


the fairest of them all (and the hand around her throat)

by WattStalf



Series: cos your love's got the best of me (baby, you're making a fool of me) [19]
Category: Baccano!
Genre: Asphyxiation, Breathplay, F/M, Mirrors, No Smut, but there's still breathplay idk, it's the same old warning for them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-07-28 23:36:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7661593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WattStalf/pseuds/WattStalf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>You've never gotten to see the way I get to see you.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	the fairest of them all (and the hand around her throat)

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what I'm garbage

Lua doesn't think of herself as particularly vain, at least not more so than the average beautiful person. She knows that she is beautiful, has always known this about herself, and before Ladd, there was always the occasional man approaching her or gazing at her for just a bit too long to remind her that others were aware of how beautiful she was as well. Her quiet demeanor had kept her from being noticed by a lot of men, but there were enough, and then there was Ladd, who had seemed like just another admirer but had quickly proven himself to be so much more.

 

She doesn't think of herself as particularly vain, but it's hard not to be a little more proud of her looks when she has someone like him, praising her as often as he does. He tells her nearly daily that she's more beautiful than anyone, and at first, he laughs when she doesn't deny it or brush his compliment off like a lot of other ladies might have.

 

She blushes prettily, instead, and smiles ever so slightly at him, and he shakes his head. "You're something else, you know that?" he asks.

 

"How so?" He's so close that she doesn't have to worry about speaking up too much for him, and can speak in a tone that's comfortable for her.

 

"Well, you know, usually when you tell a girl she's the most beautiful girl in the world, she starts shrieking, 'no, of course not!' And then she keeps denying it the more you say it, but of course she just wants you to go on," he explains. "Not that I expected you to shriek, of course, but you get the picture."

 

"If you want to go on, you don't need an invitation from me," she says, almost playfully, and Ladd laughs even harder at that.

 

"You really are something else, Lua!"

 

Later, he grows used to her easy acceptance of his compliments and does not laugh at it quite so often, but he still expresses appreciation for the fact that she is not afraid to know she is beautiful. "You shouldn't be afraid of it," he says. "It's stupid that vanity is considered a sin! If you have something to be proud of, then be proud of it or what's the point?" But she doesn't think of herself as particularly vain.

 

One day, he comes home with an ornate, full length mirror that he sets up in his bedroom. "A present for you," he explains, but they already had enough mirrors for her to use. It may be a bit more useful to be able to see the whole of her body, but she hadn't thought it was something they needed.

 

As if reading her mind, he shakes his head. "Not the mirror," he says. "That's just something I need for the present." She's even more confused by that, but Ladd is beaming and looks so proud of himself. "Come here."

 

He places his hands on her shoulders and guides her until the both of them are standing in front of the mirror, but he is mostly obscured by her. "Look," he says, gesturing to her reflection. "I'm gonna show you just how beautiful you are, okay?"

 

"But, Ladd, I've seen my reflection before," she says, letting out what sounds like half of a laugh.

 

"This is different, dollface," he replies, resting a hand on one of her cheeks and caressing her softly. "You've never gotten to see the way I get to see you." She leans into his touch, eyelids lowering, and he adds, "Tempting as it may be, don't even think about closing your eyes. I don't want you to miss this."

 

Lua nods and stares straight ahead, watching Ladd as he strokes her face gently. She was so stunned by how gentle his touches were when they first met, and even now, she adores the contrast between the delicate work his hands are doing and the things she has seen them do before. One day she's going to get to do a real comparison, from her own experience, but she doubts that will be any time soon. He has so much he wants to do first, after all, but she lets her mind wander as he trails his hand along her face, until his hand slips down onto her neck, wrapping around it.

 

"Let me show you how beautiful you are for me, my little angel," he says, and his voice drops, low and dangerous, his smile growing, exposing each and every one of his teeth. "Let me...just...show you..." He tightens his grip, more and more, until she finds that she cannot breathe.

 

It is far from the first time Ladd has done this to her, and she has so much experience that she can actually hold her breath for a very long time, but this is the first time she has ever watched her own face while he does it. She fights to keep her eyes open- usually, she relaxes into this and lets them slip closed- watching her lips twitch, her mouth involuntarily opening for air that she cannot swallow. It's hard not to drift her attention to Ladd's face behind her, wearing the same menacingly loving expression that she knows so well, but he wants her to watch her own face, so she does.

Her cheeks are flushed at first, her face going red from the lack of oxygen, but it soon begins to fade to blue, and it is only then that her vision grows blurry. She's seeing spots, and her reflection is fading, and she'll probably black out soon if he doesn't let up, but she fights to keep her eyes open so that she can watch herself, just like he wants her to. Is he going to go all the way with this? It seems too soon, but wouldn't this be such a special way to go?

Soon Lua cannot make sense of her thoughts at all, can only focus on her own reflection and on Ladd's smile behind her, until there is nothing else, and then he lets up suddenly, releasing his hold of her throat. Her mouth gasps for air before she even registers that he has let go of her, and he holds her by her waist to make sure that she does not collapse as air floods her burning lungs. She is weak all over, and as her vision returns, she can watch the color return to her face as she breathes, in and out.

Ladd reaches up a hand to run through her hair and she lets him, and he gives a sigh of contentment. “Did you see?” he asks. “Did you see what I mean, angel? I mean, you had to have seen it, you were looking right at the mirror, but you _understand_ now, right? Just how beautiful you always are for me?”

She nods slowly, still a little bit dizzy as oxygen returns to her brain. He looks so proud of himself, and so proud of her, and it's really no wonder. She saw everything that he wanted her to see, and she does understand.

“Good girl,” he says. “That's great! Because you really are the most beautiful woman in the world, you know?”

She smiles a faint smile, just like always, but then she nods again, the first time she has responded to that compliment in such a way. Because, though she does not consider herself to be particularly vain, she has seen what he sees, and for the first time, she finds herself feeling a bit more vain than the average beautiful person.

 


End file.
